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Villas-Boas slams Spurs' packed schedule

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has slammed English football authorities for Spurs' packed schedule, claiming it could lead to injuries.

Published

19 September 2013

Villas-Boas argued his players' careers could be at risk as Tottenham prepare to play Tromso in the UEFA Europa League, Cardiff City in the Premier League and Aston Villa in the League Cup in the space of six days.

The Portuguese manager claimed he 'can't understand' why the match against Aston Villa was scheduled for Tuesday, just 48 hours after Tottenham's clash with Cardiff, when other League Cup fixtures are set to take place on Wednesday.

"How can a game be scheduled after two days, immediately putting the players career at risk and the risk of injuries?" Villas-Boas said.

"I can't understand the reasons why our game against Aston Villa for the Capital One Cup (League Cup) was chosen to be on Tuesday, bearing in mind the other fixtures.

"But I find it absolutely incredible that we have to risk injuries to our players in a game that we play on that Tuesday.

"So this amount of fixtures forces us to make some changes in the team but we take the competition very, very seriously and we will be very, very strong."

But the Football League argued it had no other choice with its League Cup planning as two of Aston Villa's local rivals are set to host matches on Wednesday against Premier League clubs, who will play on Sunday.

Birmingham City will host Swansea City, while West Bromwich Albion will welcome Arsenal to the Hawthorns.

"There is a fixture congestion issue caused by three Midlands clubs being at home to sides playing on Sunday in the Premier League," a Football League spokesman said.

"In an ideal world all three games would be played on the Wednesday night but for crowd safety reasons it is not possible."